Posted on 5/09/126 by Bob Magee
- The show began with a dedication to Ted Turner, who passed
away at the age of 87 earlier this week.
– Following the signature, we got the arrivals for Rhea
Ripley, Fatal Influence, Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga, Damian
Priest, as well as the mourners for the Gingerbread Man’s
funeral (which literally was shown minutes after the Ted
Turner dedication, go figure) We then got a recap of Jacob
Fatu and Roman Reigns’ road to tomorrow’s World Heavyweight
Title match at Backlash.
Jacob Fatu prepares for Backlash
The challenger for Roman Reigns’ World Title made his way
down to the ring to get ready to address the crowd 24 hours
before Backlash.
Fatu said that tomorrow night at Backlash, he wasn’t
fighting Roman Reigns for the title, he was taking the World
Title. He recounted that since he and Reigns were young, all
everyone’s seen in Reigns was the future. Meanwhile, nobody
saw anything in Fatu. Fatu said that people wanted him to
fall back and fall in line, which he refused to do. He
stated that everyone was trying to protect Reigns when they
were doing this.
Fatu talked about how when Reigns was born, he was born with
opportunity. Meanwhile, Fatu was born with doubt. At this
point, Jimmy and Jey Uso interrupted Fatu’s promo.
Once the Usos got to the ring, Jimmy took the mic and said
that he and Jey weren’t out to change Fatu’s mind. He said
that part of him was rooting for Fatu, but the other part of
him was looking out for Fatu. Jimmy talked about how the win
was important for Fatu, but he didn’t think what would
happen if he lost to Reigns tomorrow. Jey interjected and
said that what was going to happen tomorrow instead was that
the Tribal Chief was going to beat Fatu’s ass. That wouldn’t
even be the worst part, according to Jey. That worst part
was going to be the breakdown that Reigns would inflict on
him afterwards. The Usos said that Fatu’s family would have
to watch tomorrow as Fatu would have no choice but to
acknowledge the OTC, Roman Reigns.
Fatu answered by saying that he wasn’t losing tomorrow. He
pointed out how Jey never beat Roman, and how there would be
no losing or acknowledging anything. To Fatu, this was more
than just a main event, it was for his family. The only
thing that Fatu’s family would be seeing tomorrow was him
becoming the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Fatu
said he was ready to put it all on the line, but he wondered
if Reigns was ready to die for it. He concluded by declaring
that he was all gas and no breaks, yaddiahmean.
Before Fatu left, he warned the Usos not to get involved,
otherwise he was going to burn the whole family tree down.
I liked this promo from Fatu, even if the Bloodline drama
has kinda worn thin for me. Some nice fire ahead of his
match tomorrow and got me believing he could beat Reigns at
Backlash.
**********************************
– After a recap of GUNTHER’S attack on Cody Rhodes,
SmackDown GM Nick Aldis was interviewed. Aldis pointed out
that GUNTHER’s actions were unacceptable and he’d speak with
him about it. Ricky Saints interrupted and complained that
he was stuck fighting “QB4” after mixing up with the QB1.
Matt Cardona appeared and said he was gong to teach Saints a
lesson in respect later tonight.
– Jacob Fatu was wished the best of luck by Mr. Aldis as he
met with Royce Keys, who motivated Fatu to take everything
tomorrow night at Backlash. After Fatu left, he was
confronted by Solo Sikoa. Keys threatened Sikoa for what he
did last week. Sikoa brushed it off as Keys being in the
wrong place at the wrong time and offered a place for him
with what’s left of the M.F.T.s
WWE Women’s U.S. Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton (c)
vs. Kiana James (w/ Giulia)
James and Stratton traded side headlocks until the champion
hit a takeover. She then got James with the stepover
clothesline. Stratton tried to knock James off the apron,
but she missed and ended up being tripped up. James then
targeted Stratton’s left leg by slamming it across the ring
post twice as we took a timeout.
We returned from the break as James had a single leg crab
locked in on Stratton, but the rope break forced her to let
go of the hold. With the ref’s back turned, Giulia refused
to attack Stratton, as the she and James had a disgareement
afterwards. Back in the ring, Stratton fought back with
strikes, followed by a springboard stunner and a dropkick
for the near-fall. James responded with a cartwheel kick to
the corner, then the Death Valley Driver for another near-
fall. A flustered James punched Stratton a few times before
she threw her in the corner. James drove her shoulder into
Stratton’s chest twqce, but missed on the third. Giulia got
on the apron and created a distraction, but this was just as
James countered a rolling senton into a pinfall attempt.
Stratton escaped and punched Giulia off the apron before she
finished James off with the rolling senton and the Prettiest
Moonsault Ever to retain the Women’s U.S. Title.
Tiffany Stratton def. Kiana James to retain the Women’s U.S.
Championship
This was a good match and I felt Stratton and James really
had some nice chemistry here. The angle with Giulia and
James’ split was also being built well here.
**********************************
– Backstage at the “funeral” of the Gingerbread Man, Sami
Zayn was flustered at what was going on as Nick Aldis warned
him to stay within his lane. R-Truth snuck up behind Truth
and said that the Gingerbread Man apparently talked about
Zayn all the time and he didn’t want Zayn to cry.
– Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, and Charlotte Flair were
interviewed about their six-woman tag match against Fatal
Influence later tonight. Ripley said that Fatal Influence
wanted to make an impression, they made the wrong one. Flair
tried to snipe at Ripley, but Bliss played peacekeeper by
getting the two to be on the same page.
– Elsewhere, Damian Priest was getting ready for his match
against Talla Tonga as R-Truth talked to him about Sami
Zayn’s funeral. Truth wanted to help out, but Priest talked
about how he knew the game that the M.F.T.s played and he
wanted Truth to stay back. Truth reluctantly agreed with
Priest’s request.
Damian Priest vs. Talla Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa)
Priest went after Talla right away as the bell rang, as he
managed to send him out of the ring in the process. Priest
tried to leap from the apron, but Talla blocked it. That
didn’t seem to create any separation as Priest kept the
attack going even with Sikoa’s distractions. Priest tried to
go for his spinning kick, but Talla grabbed him mid-kick and
threw him into the ringpost. Talla hit Priest with an
uppercut as he then lifted him and slammed him across the
commentary table as we took a commercial break.
We returned to our match as Priest tried to fight from
underneath with a kick. He avoided Talla and kept the
barrage of kicks to stun him. Priest broke free out of
Talla’s chokeslam with a bell clap, followed by the spinning
kick. This caused Talla to stagger back out of the ring to
take a breather. Priest kept the attack going with a leap
from the steel steps to Talla. He then kicked Sikoa before
he headed back to the ring. Up top and Priest took down
Talla with a diving clothesline for the near-fall.
Priest pulled down the straps to signal he meant business as
he sized Talla up for South of Heaven. Tama Tonga walked
down to cause a distraction as Solo Sikoa attacked Priest
behined the ref’s back. Discus lariat by Talla wasn’t enough
to pick up the win. As Sikoa and Tonga had a staredown, R-
Truth ran down to even the odds. Talla attacked Priest and
then threw him back to the ring to finish the match with a
chokeslam.
After the match, the M.F.T.s surrounded Damian Priest before
Royce Keys ran down to make the save. The M.F.T.s backed
off, seemingly on the orders of Sikoa, who was trying to
recruit Keys.
Talla Tonga def. Damian Priest via pinfall
Kind of a whatever match. Might just be general fatigue with
all things Bloodline-adjacent doing me in. Not even the
added Royce Keys drama is enough to keep me interested here.
WWE cut half of the M.F.T.s so a lot of it just seems like
really wasted potential and not really worth the trouble.
**********************************
– Backstage, Danhausen was trying to find a tag partner for
his match against The Miz and Kit Wilson tomorrow night.
Wilson said that Danhausen was too toxic to even have anyone
teaming up with him. Danhausen said that he had friends like
Papa Shango and “Bob, the Gatorade Guy”. Wilson pointed a
mirror in Danhausen’s direction and said the only one who
was going to team up with him was himself. This seemed to
excite Danhausen as he just zoomed all around afterwards.
– A “clip” of Gingerbread Man being at WWE events of the
past was shown before we saw Nick Aldis and Paul Heyman
meeting. The latter was handed a contract as GUNTHER walked
in. Aldis stated what GUNTHER did last week was
unacceptable, but he was happy to have him aboard on
SmackDown. Meanwhile, Cody Rhodes was just about to make his
way down to the ring. This seemed to upset GUNTHER, who
handed the SmackDown contract back to Aldis, stating he
wasn’t going to do business like this.
Cody Rhodes addresses the GUNTHER incident
the Undisputed WWE Champion walked down with a purpose as he
raised the Undisputed WWE Championship high in the ring
before he addressed the Jacksonville crowd.
“So, Jacksonville, what do you wanna talk about?” Rhodes
started off before he talked about how GUNTHER put him to
sleep last week and that was a sign that he wanted a shot at
the title. With that in mind, GUNTHER was called out by
Rhodes. Paul Heyman interrupted with the contract in his
hand. Before Heyman said anything concise, Rhodes said that
both him and GUNTHER were in Jacksonville and they were
ready to rumble.
Heyman interrupted as he walked down to the ring and was the
bearer of bad news for Rhodes. The contract for the title
match between Rhodes and GUNTHER wasn’t for Jacksonville or
the U.S. This fight would be in a few weeks at Clash in
Italy. Heyman revealed the favour to GUNTHER was getting
this title match set up. Before Heyman could leave, Rhodes
butted in and talked about how Brock Lesnar retired on
Heyman, Roman Reigns and CM Punk both ditched him. Was it
because Heyman was running out of options? Heyman stated
that sooner or later, they’d all need The Wiseman.
GUNTHER snuck up once again and tried to put Rhodes in the
sleeper, but was foiled twice as he was forced out of the
ring. Rhodes shouted at GUNTHER that he didn’t sweat him and
it didn’t matter if GUNTHER beat John Cena, Goldberg, and AJ
Styles. He’d refuse to back down from him. Rhodes again
reiterated that he had the high ground and that he was easy
to find, but hard to beat.
I will say this GUNTHER/Cody Rhodes feud has my interest and
if it’s something that lasts past Clash in Italy, I’m all
for it.
**********************************
– The M.F.T.s argued amongst themselves as Tama Tonga didn’t
seem too happy with being embarrased by Royce Keys, despite
Solo Sikoa’s attempts to recruit him. He was going to deal
with Keys himself.
Ricky Saints vs. Matt Cardona
Cardona backed Saints off into the corner, but got slapped
in the face for his troubles. Saints hit Cardona with a
shoulder block as he struck his trademark pose afterwards.
Cardona responded by battering Saints in the corner. Saints
managed to turn it around and then took his turns attacking
Cardona in the corner, but he got dropped with a flapjack
from his foe. Saints dodged the Broski Boot by exiting the
ring, but he didn’t get far as Cardona shelled him with a
rope-assisted dropkick as we took a break in the action.
This match returned from commercial with Cardona starting to
heat up. He had Saints propped in the lower corner for the
successful Broski Boot and a two-count. The fans were
chanting “goodbye” during this, likely due to some commotion
in the crowd and somebody getting kicked out. Cardona
attempted an Unprettier, but Saints countered that into his
modified version of a rolling cutter for the near-fall.
Saints rolled out of the ring to avoid Cardona’s Rough
Ryder. As he got back in the ring, Saints fell victim to the
Rough Ryder, but that wasn’t enough to get the win. Saints
recovered and hit the Revolution DDT, then finished it off
with the Roshambo.
Ricky Saints def. Matt Cardona via pinfall
This was decent between Cardona and Saints. Nothing really
to write home about, but in terms of putting Saints over,
job well done on that, at least.
**********************************
– Sami Zayn was still at the wake for the Gingerbread Man as
he was chatting with Johnny Gargano, who was still lying
down. Zayn was upset at Rey Fenix as he saw this entire
thing as a thinly-veiled shot at him. Zayn walked off
angrily.
– Another teaser for Blake Monroe’s arrival was shown, with
no clear date for her debut still set.
Paige and Brie Bella hold court
The WWE Women’s Tag Champions made their way down to the
ring, ready to speak their piece for the Jacksonville crowd.
Brie Bella started off tby saying that there were a lot of
teams in WWE that wanted to prove that they could beat them,
but as the Irresistable Forces found out last week, she and
Paige were tough to beat. Paige addressed the Judgment Day’s
remarks that she and Brie were a nostalgia tour, stating
that she and Brie were the best they’ve ever been. They were
ready to show their stuff to Roxanne Perez and Raquel
Rodriguez, any time and nay place.
Fatal Influence interjected, as Jacy Jayne declared that the
Judgment Day shouldn’t be the ones that Paige and Brie
should worry about. Jayne bragged about how they took out
Paige and Brie two weeks ago, and that Fatal Influence was
ready to take over.
The Irresistable Forces walked down to interrupt, calling
Fatal Influence the meme girls, and warning them to walk
back to the line. They then attacked Paige and Brie Bella
and laid them out in short order. Rhea Ripley made her way
down for the six-woman tag match and shared a staredown with
Lash Legend and Nia Jax.
Kind of a “meh” segment, and I’m not sure about running back
yet another Irresistable Forces/Paige & Brie tag title match
so soon after last week. Does highlight how bare the women’s
tag division is despite what Brie Bella said in her promo.
**********************************
– We got more of Gingerbread Man “present” at past WWE
events, through the “magic” of (likely) AI-generated art.
Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Lainey Reid) vs.
Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss
Bliss and Henley started things off for their respective
teams. Henley slammed Bliss down head-first, but got slapped
and kicked in response. Bliss mocked Henley’s taunt
afterwards as she drove her knees to the back of her
opponent. This was followed by the double-knees and the
senton. Bliss took a shot at Reid, but that allowed Henley
to take advantage as Fatal Influence began to exert their
will on Bliss in their corner. Ripley tagged in and blasted
Lainey Reid with a kick, followed by a dropkick. Fallaway
Slam by Ripley was followed by the missile dropkick on Reid.
She then took out Jayne and Henley with a rolling cannonball
of the apron as we took a break.
Our match returned from commercial as Reid was working over
Ripley in the middle of the ring. Ripley tried to reach out
for a tag, but Reid dragged back her into a half-nelson slam
of sorts. Ripley recovered and hit Reid with a spinning
kick, which allowed her to tag in Flair. The former WWE
Women’s Champion lit up Reid and Jayne with chops, followed
by a walkover clothesline. Flair warded of Henley and Jayne
before she took off the top rope for a double crossbody on
Reid and Jayne. Double Natural Selection on the Fatal
Influence duo did not get the win. Bliss tagged in and
looked to hit a tandem move, but couldn’t. Rolling Encore
was turned into a Sister Abigail attempt by Bliss, but that
wasn’t to be. With Ripley on the apron, Jade Cargill emerged
to pull her off the apron, which allowed a Rolling Encore
from Jayne to pick up the win in six-woman tag team action.
After the match, Cargill stepped into the ring as Fatal
Influence took their exit. Cargill looked at the fallen
Bliss and trash talked her as Flair slid into the ring.
Michin and B-Fab attacked Flair before Ripley ran in for the
save. She took care of Michin and B-Fab, but a pump kick
from Cargill snuffed that out. The not-quite Baddies stood
tall in the aftermath.
Fatal Influence def. Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, and Rhea
Ripley via pinfall
Not gonna lie, I kinda don’t like Fatal Influence’s big six-
woman tag win being overshadowed Cargill’s Great Value
version of The Baddies from AEW. The lack of crowd reaction
to their post-match beatdown speaks volumes on how cold this
heel trio is, especially when compared to the infinitely
more over and superior Fatal Influence.
**********************************
Tama Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga) vs. Royce Keys
Tama hit Keys with a dropkick, but that didn’t seem to have
any effect as Keys hit him with a powerslam afterwards. Keys
punched at Tama in the corner as he tried for a suplex. Tama
escaped and hit Keys in the back of his leg to gain the
advantage. Tama found himself on the receiving end of an
overhead suplex from Keys. Tama countered with a Flatliner
as Keys rolled out of the ring. Even with the refere
distracted, Sikoa and Talla refused to attack. Tama
attempted a baseball slide, but Keys caught him for a
World’s Strongest Slam onto the apron. Tama avoided calamity
when he dodged Keys running at him, which caused the
powerhouse to eat the stairs instead in the collision, as we
took a break.
We returned from commercial as Keys and Tama traded blows.
Tama got the better of Keys with a running splash, followed
by the spinning neckbreaker for a two-count. Keys turned it
around as he dodged a Tama Tonga splash and roared back with
clotheslines and a running pounce. Down came the straps as
Keys barreled into Tama across two corners, followed by a
powerslam for the two-count. Keys hoisted Tama up, but he
was reversed into an inverted DDT for a near-fall of his
own. Keys withstood Tama’s kicks as he sent his foe over the
top rope with a clothesline. Keys squared up with Sikoa and
Talla outside the ring, but the M.F.T.s didn’t do anything.
As Keys got back into the ring, Tama attempted a dive from
the top rope, but he was caught in the “Ultimate
Spinebuster” from Keys as he then ate the loss afterwards
following the three-count.
Royce Keys def. Tama Tonga via pinfall
I enjoyed this one. For as much as I hate the M.F.T. stuff,
I do like that Keys is being featured a lot more often now
after months of inexplicably being benched. I’ve always
liked his in-ring style and it’s nice to see him in action.
**********************************
– Backstage, Danhausen was seen messing around with some
vials and science-y things as his crate began to light up.
Danhausen stated that his partner, whoever it was, would be
ready for the tag match against The Miz and Kit Wilson at
Backlash.
– Backstage, Tama Tonga was licking his wounds as Shinsuke
Nakamura stated he was disappointed at him for being M.F.T.
still. Talla Tonga showed up and threatened Nakamura, who
wasn’t fazed by the big man.
Backlash 2026 Card
World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob
Fatu
John Cena’s “History-Making News”
IYO SKY vs. Asuka
Seth “Freakin'” Rollins vs. Bron Breakker
Danhausen and a Mystery Partner vs. The Miz & Kit Wilson
WWE U.S. Championship: Trick Williams (c) vs. Sami Zayn
– A mournful Trick Williams was met by Nick Aldis, who told
him that everything requested was in place and that the rest
of the broadcast was his.
The Gingerbread Man’s Funeral
This segment opened with the ring set up with the coffin
containing the “body” of the Gingerbread Man and a black mat
as Trick WIlliams made his way to the ring, with milk and
chalice in hand. Williams took a sip from the chalice before
he poured out the milk as he got into the ring. Williams
took the mic as he asked for the music to be cut. He said
that we’d have to bear with him as we’d have to get through
this.
Williams then sang a “tribute” for the Gingerbread Man, with
a choir backing him up. We then went to a video memorial for
the Gingerbread Man, that was largely made up of AI-
generated images of our cookie-based friend. After the
video, Williams asked for a moment of silence in honor of
his friend. This was rudely interrupted by Sami Zayn, who
was incredibly upset over what was going down. Zayn was mad
that this entire thing was allowed to go on all night. He
said that closing out an episode of SmackDown used to mean
something, and that television time used to mean something.
Zayn continued to be incredulous at the money spent by
Williams over all this, as he insulted the singers, the
coffin and flowers.
Zayn said that Williams was making a joke out of him,
something that he’d never do himself , because he had too
much respect. Zayn called himself a “working class hero” who
represented his ride or die fans until the end. Zayn got
into the ring and reminded Williams of who he was as he
boasted about how he still stood twenty years in the game.
However, Williams got into Zayn’s head and made him angry.
Now, it was personal. It wasn’t just about taking the U.S.
Championship at Backlash, it was about disrespecting and
exposing him tomorrow night. Zayn feigned leaving as he took
a cheapshot at Williams. Zayn grabbed the U.S. Title and
raised it over his head as the Gingerbread Man suddenly woke
up and removed his mask to reveal Li’l Yachty. Zayn took a
cane shot from Yachty as Williams then finished it off with
a Trickshot knee.
**********************************
Where do I even begin? That this whole nonsense with the
“funeral” was the final go-home moment before the PPV was
nothing short of ridiculous. I’m sure it was funny for some
people, but this wasn’t the case for me. What began as a
genuinely interesting U.S. Title feud pretty much veered
into weird New Generation-style nonsense. Bless Trick
Williams for trying to make it work, but it’s just
impossible to turn utter crap like this into gold. Same with
Sami Zayn trying his darndest to do his delusional heel
shtick. He’s trying, but the material he’s been given is not
up to par.
And speaking of utter crap, there was a very obvious use of
generative AI throughout these segments, from the posters of
the Gingerbread Man to the video “tribute” that was in the
final segment. I’m sorry, that’s just inexcusable,
especially in the wake of the remarks by TKO President Mark
Shapiro stating that WWE has been using AI in various
capacities. WWE’s video production crew used to be regarded
as the best in the game, but I find that reputation slowly
sinking as the “cheaper” alternatives are being considered
oh so willingly. That the worldwide leader in sports
entertainment is diving headfirst into AI “slop” is not a
good sign at all and it was something that really couldn’t
escape my thoughts as I saw this segment.
Lastly, I used to praise the SmackDown U.S. Title scene as
being the shining beacon amidst the sea of awfulness, but
even that seems to be no longer the case. With this
Williams/Zayn/Gingerbread stuff taking up so much real
estate, it’s meant standouts like Carmelo Hayes and Ilja
Dragunov have been left in the dust, when they should still
be prominent fixtures of the division. Like, what happened
with the story of Dragunov needing to build himself back up
after taking tough losses? As SmackDown is set to move into
two hours in July, I suspect the problem to get even worse.
As far as the rest of SmackDown is concerned, I am enjoying
Fatal Influence looking dominant in the early going, and
Cody Rhodes vs. GUNTHER is a fresh matchup that both men
badly needed after mediocre recent feuds. Overall, this
episode was pretty much a “meh” way to lead into Backlash,
and the focus on the Gingerbread Man shenanigans didn’t help
either.